Musica, MusiqueFollow

I'm expandin' me musical horizons again.

Driving around Europe I've discovered some pretty good sounds on the local radio stations and now have a number of new fave artistes.

From France I discovered Calogero (think U2 meets Coldplay in French), Patrick Bruel (relaxing ballads) and IAM (a bad-*** Marseillaise Gangsta Hip Hop collective)

Spain has introduced me to "La Oreja de Van Gogh" ('Van Gogh's Ear' - a bit cutesy, but the lead singstress is teh hawt) and Antonio Orozco - edgy and a definitively Spanish sound.

So you furriners - edjamacate me!

Who should I give some ear-time to?

RedPhoenixx - Who's good on the French Scene (BB Brunes are growing on me - a bit Arctic Monkeys/Babyshambles)

Zieverar - anything worthwhile coming out of Belgium other than Beer, Chocolate & Dr Evil?

Flea'Lo - Algo interesante de to colleccion que recomendas?

YouTube links appreciated.

Carry on.

Well isn't he a handsome fellow!

****!

I won't bore you with the music I like that is fairly mainstream, but I have a few unknowns you may enjoy.

Here's a band called Ultrahorse (more recently known as Sci-Fi Lullaby). Their music is hard to categorize, but its definitely somewhere in the "alternative" genre. I don't believe they perform live. Their best stuff comes from their 2000 CD The Pleasure and Pain of an Automobile.

Also, if you like the mellower alternative (you mentioned some things that make me believe you do), I'd suggest The Slip. They are a Boston-based band, and were recently featured in the bonus tracks of Guitar Hero 1 (the track was Even Rats, an amazing song).

Edited, Nov 1st 2007 3:24pm by AshOnMyTomatoes

Systematic. Think Metallica, only less hair (and less illegal download lawsuits).

Sevendust. In their case, the older, the better. Their new stuff sucks donkey nuts.

Thanks for the linkages, and I'll check 'em out, but I've no shortage of English language bands, and it's the non Anglophone catalogue I'm looking to build.


In terms of music within my linguistic range; French, Spanish, German (Not Rammstein), Portuguese, Italian or Russian plz.

That said, happy for other language stuff (I don't speak Arabic but love Sheb Mami's stuff, and knowing no Zulu am still a huge fan of Ray Phiri).

I mentioned Calogero.

Here's my latest "always On" in the car: Melodies en Sous Sol (Music in the Basement - It nods at a Henri Verneuil/Alain Delon art-house movie from the 60s I think)

I know it's odd trying to get a song if you don't understand the lyrics, but I love the sound


Edited, Nov 1st 2007 5:14pm by Nobby

Try Crooked Still. They're sort of bluegrass based, but with some very key differences. First... they're not slack-jawed, drooling, inbred hicks. Hell, the banjo player has a PhD from MIT, and the cellist (yes, a cellist in a blue grass band) was the first person ever admitted to Berklee on a full strings scholarship. The singer, Aiofe O'Donovan has a voice that just haunts me.

Son of a diddly! Don't ya know Crooked Still is playing in NYC tomorrow night, and I have an early morning engagement Saturday from which I cannot bail. Just as well I guess, I think if I saw and heard Aiofe up close and personal, I'd probably follow her around like a lost puppy. That might **** my wife off...not to mention Aiofe.

And double son of a diddly.... the cellist is leaving the band.

You’ve probably never heard of Blaze Foley. A singer-songwriter who died in 1989, Foley was mostly forgotten, although he was barely known to begin with.

The Duct Tape Messiah.

Foley lived hard. He didn’t care about what others thought of his life, his appearance, his choices. He alienated many of his friends with his rough and tumble ways, rarely had a home of his own, drank all the time and got in too many fights with friend and foe alike...

Foley as described by the veteran DJ Larry Monroe, at the pubic station ****...

My first memories of Blaze Foley date back to emmajoe’s. He was decked out in duct tape and mercurochrome. He was asleep under the pool table. A game of 8-ball was in progress on the green felt above him. Every time someone made a ball and it dropped with a thud Blaze would rouse up, smack his forehead on the bottom of the table and sprawl back out. Several championships were decided over his head as he slumbered on.

Through the haze of alcohol and drugs, and the perils of brawls and homelessness Blaze did his best to remain dedicated to his art and again in the words of Monroe...

He told me that he was totally committed to his career as a songwriter and would never have a day job because that might dull his ambition or detour him from his artistic goals. He was uncompromising on that point and I never knew him to hold down a job just so he could pay rent. Blaze preferred the sofa circuit and he rotated among friends and lovers for sleeping quarters. He didn’t even have a car to sleep in in a pinch. And he didn’t care.

Blaze Foley's music and life eventually had a powerful influence on many of his contemporaries, Lucinda Williams, John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle, Lyle Lovett and Merle Haggard have all covered his songs.

So, why did they call him the Duct Tape Messiah?

In reaction to the Urban Cowboy craze sweeping across the city, he mocked the make-believe cowboys with their shiny silver boot tips by putting duct tape on the tips of his boots.

He loved duct tape, the miracle binder that kept his clothes and his life together. Foley slapped the adhesive to shoes, jeans, shirts, hats, jackets. Once he made a whole suit out of duct tape. Friends dubbed him the Duct Tape Messiah.

He was even buried in a coffin covered in duct tape.


Here are some of the Duct Tape Messiah's tunes, that can be found on YouTube:

As with most folk/country songwriters, Foley was also political. He had no love for Ronald Reagan and wrote a stinging song about the president back in the mid-1980s called "Oval Room"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuWmIpL2GLA

Foley was a running/drinking/drugging buddy of the legendary Townes Van Zandt. Townes also wrote a song about Foley after his death called "Blaze’s Blues",and his eyes were volcanic blue. Here are the two friends singing one of my favorite Townes songs, "Snowing On Raton".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cxC1utGVR2w


Some more of his recordings not found on YouTube:

"If I Could Only Fly" and
"Clay Pigeons" both of which are covered by John Prine and Merle Haggard.


Lastly, Foley was shot and killed in 1989 while trying to help a friend fend off an attack. Years later, Lucinda Williams, a country goddess who knew Foley from her Austin days, wrote a song about Foley’s life and death called "Drunken Angel".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBwpZ7KG-HY

And since I can't seem to find those other Foley gems on YouTube, here is an excellent John Prine song about smelling underwear/knickers:
FROM MAYWOOD ILLINOIS' FINEST..

I LOVE La Oreja de Van Gogh!!! You've already heard of Julieta Venegas?

Try Café Tacuba (Las Flores, linked, but also Eres, and Como te Extraño).

If you don't know them already, Jarabe de Palo. This is their most popular, a real pick-me-upper, but my favorite is Agua. It makes me cry, all about how hard it is to be friends when you really want to be lovers.

Oh, and Jorge Drexler. Quiet, mellow.


Edited, Nov 2nd 2007 6:41am by Atomicflea

For a German band, Die Toten Hosen are pretty good. Sort of punk/pop music.

Adieu, RP. J'espère que vous ne soyez pas allé longtemps.

My french is bad.

Hey Nobby, you get this yet?